An Autism Epidemic? Ctd

Jessica Grose chatted with Dr. Catherine Lord about the study released last week:

As for the overall rise, we can’t know whether there are more autistic children now than there were in previous generations, because we’re so much more aware of the disorder today than we’ve ever been. (Lord does not believe that autism is being overdiagnosed.) The criteria for autism didn’t change between 2008 and 2010 (though the criteria did change in 2013), and a 30 percent rise does seem like a lot to simply attribute to raised awareness.

1) The definition of autism is evolving. It’s now a spectrum, and being identified in higher functioning individuals.

2) Awareness is increasing, leading more children to be labelled.

3) There are many areas where support for autism services are robust, but support for other disabilities are thin. Giving children the diagnosis of autism opens up doors for them that might otherwise be closed with respect to help.

4) Of course, the prevalence could be increasing as well.

Over the weekend, Sam Wang looked (NYT) at the various factors that increase the risk of autism. One of the more surprising ones:

In my article in the Sunday New York Times on how to think about autism risks, I apply meta-analytical techniques to autism research literature. It’s nearly impossible to get a good overall perspective from news reports. However, I provide a way to look at it all at once. My secret decoder ring takes the form of risk ratios. Check it out.